“Secret” Episode 12 Kiss Scene

The extremely awesome Tessieroo will recap the hell out of this scene shortly but can I fangirl for a second? Yes, forced kisses are absolutely detestable but… but… but…. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Yes, what he did at first was not okay. We don’t advocate for this! When a guy goes for the kill and a girl is struggling, men, stop it immediately. Your life is not a kdrama and there’s a good chance that the girl is not playing hard to get. Keep at it and you just might find yourself in front of a judge. But… but… but… on the other hand, SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!! After the forceful, caveman kiss that we don’t agree with, we got a romantic kiss. YAY! SQUEEEEEEEEE! DEAD! REVIVED! DEAD AGAIN. SQUEEING WHILE DEAD. SCREAMING. FAINTING. ALIVE. DEAD. DEAD AGAIN. SQUEEEE. SQUEAL. SQUALL. SCHOOL.SCALE. SKULL. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Lucky girl. After all that suffering, she got herself a real rich guy. You go girl! Also one who genuinely cares about you. Now, we just need to work on his personality issues (i.e. his forceful nature).

29 Comments

OMG!!!! Ji Sung I LOVE YOU! That romantic kiss, while she had a tear rolling down her eye…and the fact that she made him kneel. All this time he looked down at her and now he lowered himself for her. For someone who lowered herself for the sake of other men, she finally has someone who will do the same for her. My god such a touching scene

oh i wish the kiss started at 1:43 instead; was kind of disturbed at him forcing the kiss on her! it was so weird to watch esp with the romantic song playing in the background!
I don’t know, as much as i love ji sung i think this was pretty disturbing until he knelt down and gently kissed her

I agree with you about the first kiss but given how’s he’s been throughout the drama, it’s very much in character. I’m glad we got a palette cleanser with the second one. The writer knew he couldn’t just end the episode with the first kiss.

Omg omg omg I MEAN ! OMG OMG OMG OMGGGG I WAS LIKE STOP IT﻿ STOP IT ( stop strugling looooool ) we were waiting for this scene since the 1rst ep <3 ….ji sung is such a good actor i was just breathless ( fan girl moment ^-^) !!!!!!!!!!

I don’t know if you’re familiar with the story line but basically, he thinks she killed his lover (and the mother of his unborn child) so he makes it his life’s mission to torture her. This is a crazy makjang so all emotions are heightened. Anyway, he becomes obsessed with this mission (and by extension, her) and when eventually, she becomes financially indebted to him, he orders her around. In the background, he’s caring for her (taking her to the hospital etc). When he knows she’s about to be hurt, he tries to protect her by her ordering her away, When she runs away, he forces her back with threats (he’s actually protecting her). That’s been his approach. So in the context of this drama, this forced kiss makes sense as it’s all he knows.

However, I think this is what this scene is saying: When he forces her (and for so long too), she never succumbs. This is the approach he’s always used and it doesn’t work. However, when he looks into her eyes, kneels before her and is gentle, she accepts him.

There are some people who feel that she simply gave up but I don’t think that’s what’s happening. Of course, I could very well be wrong but I think this signifies a turning point in their relationship. At least, that’s what I hope it means.

I’ve been interested in this drama since the first time it aired but couldnt bring my self to watch it since I was still in my syndrome of another drama (hehehe) but kept reading the recaps and news, glad to heard the rating keep increase and now after read the short review of you, I’ll start to watch this tonight for sure!

A friend of mine interpreted Min Hyuk’s forced kiss in a very interesting way tying it to the first scene of episode 11 in which Yoo Jung was mourning her father’s fate. Then too she did not want Min Hyuk’s consolation. She pushed his hand, wanted to continue harming herself. He had to forcibly subdue her. My friend says, knowing all the reasons that would make Yoo Jung stay away from him romantically Min Hyuk is using the same approach (not that I agree with him! A no is a no!).

If we think about it Yoo Jung has plenty of reasons to stay away from Min Hyuk. After the betrayal of her boyfriend who she thought she knew for years how can she trust this man who has been torturing her for years? This man has confessed his reason for living was to hate her and take revenge. He is a chaebol on top of that and an engaged one at that (wasn’t she just serving to his fiancé and her friends? She didn’t even want to get into his car after that). She also doesn’t know he knows she wasn’t driving that night so she doesn’t know she isn’t among the people he is trying to get revenge anymore. She thinks he still wants her to live an unhappy, miserable life. So when Min Hyuk approaches her she doesn’t know whether it is to anger Do Hoon or anger Se Yeon or torture herself more. Yes she said she would accept anything he wanted, do anything he wanted, but this week we started seeing signs of her genuinely starting to like him. And that is what made her draw that line and stop him in his first kiss attempt at the beginning of the episode. Not because she doesn’t want him but because she now really wants him but isn’t sure of his intentions.

From Min Hyuk’s perspective the two kisses are very different in tone as well. The first one is one of domination, Min Hyuk is the aggressor, he attacks, demands compliance. In the second one he kneels down in front of her, almost in a proposal pose, he approaches slowly in contrast to the first time, once again giving her time to back off if she wants. But she still only accepts, doesn’t respond. I think at this point she needs some words of reassurance from him, not forceful kisses.

She hasn’t given in once this entire show.
Never. She is always the decider for her actions.
She fights back like a champ whenever anyone gets in her face, or messes with her.
That is one of the really cool things about her.

So after she fought and fought in the car, telling him NO, HE gave up.
When she tried to leave, he changed tactics.He stopped her, lowered himself, THEN re-presented himself to her on his knees.
He was so full of hope with that kiss – it was soft and sweet, and she leaned in before she closed her eyes.

Her tear tells us she accepts him because she wants to, NOT because he beat her down.

Yeah, I need to see where they go from here. I have such issues with Minhyuk at the moment that they somehow need to redeem him, although I don’t know if they will be able to. Although, maybe they’re not going to redeem him; maybe that’s the point. Well, we’ll see.

OOOhhhh so split. I love this couple, and this drama. BUT this scene grossed me out.

And I cant see how anyone would accept been kissed straightaway afterwards, kneeling down or otherwise. Id kick him in the face. (Ok maybe the chest, even grossed out I dont think Id want that face ruined.) So Im glad it didnt show her been happy with him at the end of the ep.

I would like to think the second kiss as awesome-ly romantic but I can tell the tears she shed was not of joy. It was more like she felt she had no choice but let him kiss her, which suits the current status of the drama plot. Her eyes were vacant when we are given a long shot of him kneeling in front of her.
If we observe, he convinced her to let him drop her home with “You said you will do everything I say.”; I think she applied that to the kiss as well, resigned to do everything he says due to guilt/gratitude. I don’t doubt her attitude has shifted positively towards him, but it’s yet to reach the romantic stage.
The PD of the show made a public statement that the ending of the show is going to be completely unexpected, and Roommate Unni hinted at Yoo Jung’s impending doom – I am not sure if there is going to be Happily-Ever-After.
Oh, what I would give to have the finale with Min Hyuk, Yoo Jung and San as one happy family! God knows, both have lost a kid and a loved one.

Hey NJ, I also agree with you as well. I wrote this on asianwiki the other day and yeah, I was replaying the ending for episode 12 and although I saw the many happy comments saying the OTP finally kissed, I was just thinking in my head “But… YJ doesn’t even look happy…. she looks so emotionless and vacant and looks so sad crying..” That’s why I thought she didn’t actually like Minhyuk. Sure, her relationship with him has improved but really, I feel like its only Minhyuk who is loving her, and Yoojung is going along because she gave up. I don’t think Yoojung has even got over DoHoon yet (even though she now hates him, but I am sure she still has lingering feelings, because come on – it was only the episode before when she actually learns the truth and decides to take revenge). I really really wish HJE would emote better in these kiss scenes. Even in the almost-kiss at the end of ep 11, I couldn’t tell if Minhyuk leaning closer to her face was affecting her or not. At least give me a clue that you are beginning to like him! Urgh, anyway, if we are correct and YJ doesn’t actually like MH, I can only pray to the dramagods that she does within these next 4 episodes (which doesn’t seem likely). OR maybe extending episodes to 20 (hint hint). Anyways, this show has shown me that I love Jisung. I was half watching/ half reading Secret and decided to jump on board properly at episode 8, when MH finally learns the truth. Damnnn, is that guy a good actor, he had me sold in ep 9 with that car scene when he started crying. So far, I’ve only seen passionate love in his eyes, and nothing from Yoojung when she looks at him.

There are a lot of interpretations flying around, which I agree with you are due to the ambiguity in HJE’s expressions. I am yet to figure if they are deliberate or not.
As far as Do Hoon is concerned, I think it is a nice reversal of MH’s situation where revenge led him to love, while in YJ’s case it will be revenge starts with the end of love. I doubt YJ has a new romance in mind as yet. But there, of course, is hope.
This was nicely put in the scene when the Roommate Dongseng offers YJ her face cream and asks her if MH and she have advanced to smooching – to which YJ’s clearly perturbed but doesn’t wish to pursue further, which sums up the entire situation, the relationship between two leads.

AGREE: “She thinks he still wants her to live an unhappy, miserable life. So when Min Hyuk approaches her she doesn’t know whether it is to anger Do Hoon or anger Se Yeon or torture herself more. Yes she said she would accept anything he wanted, do anything he wanted.”

AGREE: “If we observe, he convinced her to let him drop her home with “You said you will do everything I say.”; I think she applied that to the kiss as well, resigned to do everything he says due to guilt/gratitude.”

When I watched episode 11 “raw” I felt that YooJung had died in the car when Do Hoon tacitly admitted that he had thrown away her father. She was filmed “ethereally” when she promised to haunt him and as the car drove away and left her standing in the rain. That sense of human shell committed to a single task [destroying Do Hoon] continue as she made a deal with her personal demon, Min Hyuk, to never forget that she deserved and should always live a miserable life.

Gangster Unni “alluded” to YooJung’s dead state/possible fate when she said an life dedicated to revenge was a life wasted.

With the English Subs and Episode 12, I’ve eased up a little on this interpretation, but have not given it up entirely.

THE KISS: YooJung has no idea what is in Min Hyuk’s head. I think she believes it is a part of her dutry for dealing with her demon.

Wanted to add, some people responded to YooJung’s “I will stay by your side Boss until you tell me to leave,” as if it were a meant to be a romantic declaration. To me is as someone voluntarily putting a coffle around their neck.

Yumi, you have put it all even more clearly!
Completely agree! I suppose only the coming episodes will tell. You never know with KDramas, as they might just spin the romance from that kiss. I personally see only this interpretation befitting Secret in the place it is; if in the next ep it says this was romance in Yoo Jung’s eyes then I might be pretty disappointed.
I love Min Hyuk but that forced kiss was an outright assault. One single forced/surprise kiss can be explained but not the one-minute sequence of him forcing himself on her. Imagine the same done by someone else (Jae Ha, for example, who did much less and was beaten blue for it) and the rose-tinted glasses of the viewers would come right off and see the blatant sexual harrassment. We can’t even excuse him for not knowing her stand as she had refused him once earlier. I would really like the writers to redeem the character in some way because it nullifies his trajectory across all these episodes – which would be sad for such a cleverly written show.

i;ve been meaning to watch secret but i haven’t had the time. although i did skim through episode 7 which then made me want to watch episode 8 which them made me like to want it all the more… i love 8’s ending. i was half cursing why i only downloaded up to 8… and now i see this! 🙂

“I believe that I love you” soundtrack + man forcing himself on a struggling, crying woman who is cornered and literally strapped to her chair =/= love.

After she gets the opportunity to undo her seat belt and get out of the car, he pushes and holds her down. Up until this point, things were very overtly violent because she was struggling. Yet it is wrong to conclude that just because she is no longer struggling against her aggressor that it is “okay” for the aggressor to have intimacy the victim. Intimacy requires consent, without it that’s sexual assault. Just because a woman doesn’t struggle against a man’s sexual actions means that she consents to them.

I think if she doesn’t like him she shouldn’t let him kiss like she did when he tried the second time, she should have resisted him like the first kiss. That second kiss will clearly mislead MH. If she doesn’t want to mislead him she should not have accepted the second kiss. Some people are saying she’s tired so she is letting him do whatever he want which I think is bollocks and totally wrong if she doesn’t like him. Her actions for the second kiss is way out of her character that’s being portrayed. I think her crying means she’s sad because even if they started a relationship it will be very complicated and might ruin them both. She does look like she has little bit of feelings for him but totally understands it will not work. I think the director is true to his/her words and showing min hyuk’s actions exactly as his character. I for one totally understand from MH’s point of view and what made him do what he did though I don’t condone what he did.